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How technology has changed over the past 15 years and what the future holds for us (Topic)

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How technology has changed over the past 15 years and what the future holds for us

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The technology world has undergone significant changes over the past decade and a half. Back in 2005, quite often there were people who did not know how to use a cell phone, and today cell phones themselves have become a relic of the past - they were replaced by mobile devices with touch control. Of course, this is far from the only change that has changed our lives.

Smartphones

smartphone

A modern mobile phone is a pocket laptop. It can perform almost all operations that were previously only available on a home PC. According to statistics, 9 out of 10 people keep their smartphone close at hand during the day and are very anxious if they do not find the device in their usual place. This is not so much a fear of missing an important notice, but rather a dependency like the one that avid gamers feel about computer games.

Since the 1990s, each new generation of phones has become smarter than the previous one. But in 2003, less than 1% of mobile devices could be classified as smartphones. Since then, the situation has changed dramatically. Touch-enabled devices are becoming cheaper to manufacture and more affordable for customers, and smartphones are becoming more widespread among people in developing countries. In 2014, almost a quarter of the world's population owned smartphones, and according to the forecasts of the Swedish company Ericsson Mobility Report, in 2020 the number of users will exceed 6 billion.

At the end of the 2000s, the smartphone market was headed by the Canadian manufacturer Blackberry, now few people know about it, but everyone has heard about Apple and Samsung. On the one hand, mobile devices are becoming more and more affordable, but on the other hand, the price of premium devices reaches $ 1000.

Social networks

Social Media

It's hard to believe that Facebook will be 15 years old next year. Founded in February 2004, it does not lose its popularity today. According to Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of the social network, today the number of FB users exceeds 2 billion (the site registered its first billion in August 2015).

The number of users of Instagram, the most popular photo and video platform, is also growing. The service has become one of the most affordable tools for promoting small businesses, and its services are used by 800 million people around the world.

Wi-Fi and the Internet of Things (IoT)

Internet of Things

The Internet has given us incredibly fast access to the information we need. But in order to go online, you do not have to stay at home at your PC or look for an Internet club, as in the 90s and 2000s: today you can find a point with free Wi-Fi in almost every cafe, shopping or entertainment center.

Google is working on the development of the Station project, which will become a global provider of free Internet. The service has already been successfully tested in India and it will only be a matter of time before it becomes available in other regions of the world.

IoT technology with “smart home” and “smart city” systems is spreading around the world at a high speed. It proves best of all that we are already close to the era when any device can be controlled through the World Wide Web. At the same time, household appliances will be able to perform part of their functions without human intervention: automatically turn on the light and draw the curtains, open the door when the owner approaches, notify about the finished product or medicine, and send the order to the delivery service. The navigator will analyze traffic on the roads and reprogram the alarm clock so that a person can choose the best route and get to work.

According to reports from Gartner, DHL and Cisco, in 2015 there were 3.8 billion smart devices active in the world, transmitting information through cloud services. According to forecasts of various companies, by 2020 their number will range from 25 to 75 billion.

Tablets

tablet

The tablet is perfect for both everyday operations (reading, Internet surfing, correspondence) and for solving educational and professional tasks (design, video communication, programming).

Today in the world there are more than a billion owners of tablet computers. According to analysts from eMarketer, the market is close to saturation: in 2018 the total number of devices sold will be approximately 120-130 million, and in the coming years, tablet sales will be at an increasingly slower pace.

E-commerce

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Internet services have led to major changes in the way we treat the purchase / sale of goods. The introduction of secure payment systems (such as Paypal) has significantly increased the level of trust in online shopping.

According to various estimates, from 50 to 65% of people make purchases on the Internet every month. In 2012, total revenues from online merchandise surpassed the $ 1 trillion mark, and this figure is growing every year.

For more than ten years, China and Indonesia have been the leaders in terms of the volume of goods sold via the Internet. In order for the goods to arrive at the customer as quickly as possible, US retailers had to open huge distribution centers in large metropolitan areas and medium-sized warehouses in small cities. Due to this, the delivery of goods often occurs on the day of ordering.

Wearables

wearable gadgets

The first smartwatches appeared back in the 80s, they were subject to some simple operations - calculations and primitive games. Modern smartwatches work in conjunction with a mobile phone and perform much more advanced functions, including heart rate monitoring.

In recent years, scientists and engineers have been actively working on the creation of smart clothes that could monitor the physiological activity of the body, but so far the imperfection of sensors and batteries does not allow creating truly useful mass products. However, tech fairs regularly showcase working prototypes of smart shoes, smart T-shirts, and other wearable gadgets.

The Topic of Article: How technology has changed over the past 15 years and what the future holds for us.
Author: Jake Pinkman


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